


old friends.

by justyouraveragemoron



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Best Friends, Gen, Songfic, how the fuck did hammer get here, like idk how that even happened mate, the teen rating is just for language, this is endgame compliant so beware, yall should go listen to coldplay's new album, yes i stole the title from a song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22503046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyouraveragemoron/pseuds/justyouraveragemoron
Summary: Rhodey didn’t have the energy to deal with old enemies - both business and superhero, to attend his best friend’s funeral sober, or to stand in front of hundreds of people who never gave a shit about Tony and give his eulogy in twenty minutes.When he actually got up on stage, Rhodey was planning to do one of three things: run his mouth then run offstage, curse everyone to hell, or politely thank everyone for coming and spew hallmark bullshit like a calm, collected adult.So when Rhodey opens his mouth and those words fall out, he has no choice but to let them drag him through his memories."Tony was a friend of mine, we were together all the time..."Or, James Rhodes reminisces.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	old friends.

**Author's Note:**

> to ali, for every pinkie promise.
> 
> insp: old friends, by coldplay.

It was a buzzing crowd tonight, expensive silk and designer fabric draped over extraordinarily beautiful figures. Classy music drifted aimlessly between the quiet conversations, full of subdued tones and polite laughter. James Rhodes thought it was almost exactly like all the galas Tony had hated, with one exception: instead of a cacophony of colour, the masses wore a sea of black. 

“Pretty big turnout, huh?”

Rhodey didn’t think there could be a person he wanted to see less in that moment but here he was, the absolute rock bottom of humanity. Justin Hammer grinned at him, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “Guess that’s what happens when you run around in a tin can.”

“Sure, and saving the universe holds no value.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, but didn’t have the energy to properly infuse his voice with the scathing fury the comment would have sparked. He didn’t have the energy to deal with old enemies - both business and superhero, to attend his best friend’s funeral sober, or to stand in front of hundreds of people who never gave a shit about Tony and give his eulogy in twenty minutes. 

“Eh, that could’ve been anyone. Hell, that could have been me.” Hammer caught sight of Rhodey’s expression in the light of the dazzling chandeliers, and hurried to correct himself. He seemed to abruptly remember he was at a funeral. “But it wasn’t, it wasn’t. Just anyone, that is.”

“You never even made an attempt at heroism. You partnered with a manic who immediately launched a drone attack with your sub-par tech.”

Justin might have smiled sheepishly, if he was capable of that. “No, but I had tech. And other people have hero-complexes. And even more people use substance abuse to handle their daddy issues.” He plucked an olive out of a passing martini glass, popped it into his mouth, and spoke the next words around it. “He just happened to have all three.” 

“Tony wasn’t just the stars aligning or any of that bullshit. There is no checklist to become a hero.” 

Hammer didn’t seem to concerned about what made a hero, or about the colour Rhodey was turning. “I guess. What would I know anyways?”

What did any of the attendees know? Rhodey knew that half the people here spent most of their lives hating Tony, and the other half in distant awe. Neither of them had any idea who Tony really was. Who he had been. 

As Rhodey waited behind the curtain, he figured it didn’t matter. Those people didn’t know Tony, or him, so he could just bullshit some words and run off stage. They wouldn’t know the difference if Rhodey never scratched the surface of his overwhelming grief and love, just like they never knew the difference between the billionaire, playboy, genius and the hero, the loving husband and father. 

So he held it all in an iron grip as he stood under the bright lights, choosing to look out on the crowd apathetically. One face stood out, smirking. Justin Hammer gave his fingers a little twitch, too short to be a wave. 

Rhodey swallows most of the emotion down, but left what feels to be a single ember, burning through his tongue. And to his surprise, when he opens his mouth it is not fueled by rage. All he has is this warm, almost nostalgic longing. 

He just missed Tony. Missed how he would laugh at all this, and then race off to see Pepper and Morgan, to build something with Peter, or to call Harley. 

The ember on his tongue might be love, might be grief. Either way, his words are sweet and wistful. 

  
  


_ “Tony was a friend of mine, we were together all the time… ” _

“God, you’d think all that money daddy dearest has would be good for something, but nope. I’m in a shared fucking dorm.”

Rhodes’ head shot up, startled by the disproportionately small voice for a university dorm. In the doorway was a … child. Or maybe a really young teenager. “I’m sorry, are you lost?” 

“I wish.” The kid removed the shades he was wearing (seriously, a baby wearing sunglasses indoors?) to reveal a set of rolling brown eyes. They matched his carefully styled brunet hair, which in turn paired perfectly with his suit - a ruffled, but distinguished three piece. 

He wasted no time ripping off the jacket and slinging it over the chair that belonged to the desk of Rhodes’ roommate. To be honest, Rhodes hadn’t expected to get a roommate, seeing as moving day was three weeks ago. And even if he was expecting a roommate, he never thought it would be a kid that barely broke 5’3. 

He kicked off his shoes, but made no move to sit down. For his casual entrance and treatment of the place, he still shifted awkwardly in the middle of the room. 

“Um… I’m James Rhodes.”

The words fell flat between them. “Tony,” the boy muttered, before seemingly finding his bearings and sitting on his bed. He immediately grimaced in distaste. 

Rhodes laughter slipped out before he could help it. “I’m sorry, but you’re not the first to have that reaction. The beds get better when you are exhausted from classes.” 

Tony just shrugs a little. Rhodes’ smile strains a little. 

<> <> <>

Things don’t get better after that first meeting. To Rhodes’ utter bafflement, the kid’s closet contained only suits, collared shirts, and dress pants. To Tony’s complete confusion, Rhodes spent most of his time their room, in  _ sweatpants _ . Tony on the other hand, spent a great deal of time drunk or hungover in Rhodes’ presence, so Rhodes obviously chose to be as less present as possible. 

Rhodes didn’t expect the kid to stay, not three weeks late to all his courses at MIT. So the kid of course aced everything without studying, learned everything without trying, and had a surplus of time left over to lose his brains in a bottle of alcohol. 

And further than that, every fucking teacher pranced on eggshells around him, blowing kisses up his ass. 

Rhodes hated him. 

And then Rhodes heard the screaming over the phone, found out the kid was really actually a kid at 14, and saw the swelling bruise over his left eye to match the fingerprints around his wrist. 

And Rhodes could only hate him half-heartedly, with sympathy and understanding taking up most of the space. Rhodes couldn’t even hate him when he had the name Stark, the brand of an iron monger. 

Then one day Tony slammed the door of the cramped room open, dragging in what looked like a pile of scraps. Rhodes spun around in his chair to look, but ended up squeezing into the desk to avoid a rogue metal bar. A wheel rolled to a rest at his feet as Tony cursed. 

“I swear to fucking god, I’ll dismantle them twice as bad, DUM-E. Those arrogant fucks, trying to reduce you to  _ scraps _ over  _ jealousy- _ ” 

Tony bent over the mess, lovingly gathering the parts into piles until - “Dummy?”

The kid’s head shot up, brown eyes unblinking. Shock warred with the instinct to play it cool, so he settled on a snappish, “Who, you?” 

Like a cornered animal intent on licking its wounds, Tony drew into the corner with the bundle of metal. Rhodes was worried he might actually start growling over the project. “Um… who’s our new roommate?”

Oddly, his choice of words soothed the kid. “DUM-E.”

“Not me, the -”

“No, his name is DUM-E. He’s a robot.” Tony glanced at the pile of scraps. “He just need a bit of a fixer-upper.”

Rhodes thought the robot need a bit more than that, but decided against mentioning it. “How did,” he gives a sweeping gesture, “this happen?”

Tony’s eyes went nearly black with anger. “My good ol’ pals in the lab thought he needed a makeover. So he’s staying here.”

And that was that. Rhodes was too baffled to object to the waste of precious space, and Tony continued to fawn over the junk metal like a mother hen. It should have annoyed Rhodes, with all the scraps and screws strung out across the floor, or how the beeping machine and the glow of Tony’s code never ceased. But any stubborn loathing had melted when Tony had gently tapped on the robot’s camera, with all child-like hope in his whisper of “DUM-E?”

Soon Tony was teaching him how to play fetch with Rhodes’ stuff. Rhodes might have joined a game or two, because DUM-E was the perfect mix of a dog and a toddler, that only needed oil and electricity. 

Tony and Rhodes were both ecstatic when he stopped breaking Rhodes’ rubix cube, but probably for different reasons. 

  
  
  
  


_ “Sometimes I wanna call him, say ‘Hey, let’s stay up ‘til morning’” _

“I think I’m in the mood to get utterly fucked.”

Tony merely cocked an eyebrow in Rhodes’ direction. “Usually I’m the one to propose sin and debauchery. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

“This transferred general, T- something or other Ross. Already the biggest pain in my ass I’ve ever met, and I knew you in the 90’s.”

“Hey now, I can’t have someone taking my title - how can I one up him?”

Rhodes answering stare was deadpan. “Puff on a cigar and tell all your subordinates they’ll be useless once he gets the super soldier program running again.”

“Yikes.” Tony’s tone is mild, but he’s already sliding on his shoes and slipping his wallet into his pocket. “I’ll call Happy. If everything goes according to plan, neither of us will be able to see straight after 2 am.”

<> <> <>

It wasn’t that much later that Rhodes had lost his tie and left shoelace, while Tony picked up a neon blue thong. By the way Tony whined, you’d think he got the short end of the stick. “... And then she ditches, like her friend isn’t eyeing me up and - ” 

“Tony. Tony, I would’ve ditched you too, if you used that pickup line on me.”

“It’s better than the one you used about the space man.”

“Damn. I thought it was pretty good.”

“Uh oh, he’s still thinking. Another round of shots, please!”

A server wasted no time in delivering the hard alcohol, and Tony dumped back two before speaking again. “See, this is why you’re my best friend Rhodey, my other half.”

“Pretty sure that’s not my name.” 

“I figured since I’m your other half too you wouldn’t mind if you took a bit of my name. Unless you want my last one?”

“Maybe next time we’re in Vegas, Tones.”

  
  
  
  


_ “He had my back, once he really saved my life” _

At first everything is muted mumbles and pale yellow light, until the world slowly bleeds back into focus. This isn’t his first time awake he recalls, and he knows distantly how bad everything is - how permanent. Minutes or hours pass as time escapes Rhodey, but finally the moment comes when conscience settles comfortably into his mind. Tony is there, slumped over in the bedside chair. 

“Tones.”

His body stiffens, but he doesn’t meet Rhodey’s eyes. He instead whispers “How are you feeling?”

“Dried out. Did you crank the heat or something?” Rhodey’s joke flakes off as his voice raspes into a whisper. Tony immediately shoved a cup of water under his nose, and Rhodey pulled deep mouthfuls from the straw. 

“I’m so sorry.”

Rhodey already knows why. “For the fight? You knew Cap would do this.”

“No. I was supposed to have your back.” Clint is there in Tony’s mind, sneering  _ “You gotta watch your back with this guy. There’s a chance he’s gonna break it.” _

“You did. You always have.”

“Tell that to your crushed lower lumbar.” Tony almost folds with emotion, the chair barely holding his racked form. “I bet everyone is sure glad they jumped ship in time. God, I should have known - ”

“Tones. Look at me.”

Their eyes meet. Tony seems as though he can hardly bear it, staring into the eyes of his friend, his victim. Rhodey wouldn’t have any of it. “I wouldn’t have jumped ship even if I knew this would happen, not on the Accords, especially not on you.”

“I know, but maybe you should. I don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to safety.” 

“Now I know you’re talking shit. You don’t believe in bad luck or fate.” 

“No, but I believe in solid data. My parents, Pepper, now you.” And Clint is back, his mocking applause echoing in the caverns of Tony’s chest.  _ “The futurist, gentlemen! The futurist is here!”  _ “Some futurist I am if I never saw this coming.”

“Fuck that. I told you, I’m not leaving.” Rhodey’s voice is almost angry, and it forces Tony to hold his gaze. “And I know you won’t either. You always come through. And I doubt you don’t have a plan to fix this.”

Tony smiles briefly, a weak ray of hope. “Why honeybear, how’d you know I’m already fabricating your prosthetics?”

Rhodey shrugs. “Had a hunch.”

  
  
  
  


_ “When I close my eyes, I see you” _

“And when I drift off, I will dream about you. It’s always you.” 

Tony taps his faceplate, staring into his own darkened eye slits. Staring into the face of death. 

He can feel the air getting thinner, and his perception of time starts to slide. His muscles have atrophied. His eyes stare blankly or wheel aimlessly. Everything is starting to slip away from him. 

But as he settles himself in to sleep for possibly forever, he holds on to one thing: those recorded messages will never be enough.

It won’t be enough to just record messages for no one to receive, or to shout into the void of space for no one to hear. These hours and days adrift are the newspaper prints to a second of technicolor film on earth. Empty words will never be fully filled people. 

He made a message for Peter first, while he was still brave and determined and fresh with grief and wounds. He makes only one promise to him in the video, but it is one he has no hope of keeping.  _ I’ll get you back buddy, and you’ll have one helluva story to tell Ted. _

But now he is exhausted and weak. He is tired, and not looking for a reason to fight. He wants comfort. He wants to make these videos and know that they will reach those they are intended for. He wants Pepper to hold him, and Rhodey to support him. They always did, with delicate arms and fragile spines. 

And before the food ran out, Tony recorded Rhodey’s message. He rambled a little, cried a little, and laughed a lot. Rhodey would appreciate it, if he ever found it. If he were still flesh and blood and not dust and shadows. 

“Every time I’d wake up to the newest disaster, the latest fallout, the current coping method, you were there.” Tony had sniffed in the saved hologram, trying to reign it all in as not to ruin the recording. “Rhodey, you're not the one in my dreams, and maybe I don’t always see you when I close my eyes.”

“But dammit -” Tears streamed steadily down his cheeks, catching in his unruly facial hair. “When I open them, you’re there. I see you.”

He wants their eyes to meet one last time. “And that’s so much better.”

<> <> <>

When his body is moved, he knows it is a mercy on Nebula’s part: that he might die cleanly, gently. Tony never thought that would be an option for him. He was always the Merchant of Death, and then the Iron Man, and lately the one that made the Mad Titan bleed. The fight was all he knew, all he had at some points. An easy end might have been what Tony wanted, if he wasn’t entire star systems away from the people he wanted around when he went. 

But then his eyes squint open to a figure, and his heart sings.  _ Rhodey, you’re there. I see you. _ It was habit. Rhodey was always there when he opened his eyes. 

Then he realised the figure had long, gold- backlit hair and was decidedly female. And he nearly cried because  _ it was Pepper. _

But it is brown irises that stare back at him, too light to be Rhodey's and too dark to be Pepper’s. A stranger, glowing and humanoid and not who he hoped for. 

He let his eyelids slip shut.

<> <> <>

Pepper runs out to meet him, and it’s the first lungful of air he’s had for three weeks. 

_ Safe, safe.  _

Rhodey settles him into his latest ball and chain: the wheel chair. The prick of the IV is lost on Tony as he stares at Rhodey again. “You’re here, I see you.”

His mumbled words are a little lost on his best friend, but Rhodey gets it. “I got you, Tones. I’m not leaving.” The quiet words are only for them.

Steve’s there, and Tony aches a little deeper when he says “we lost.” It wasn’t just about that, was it? They both lost, on entirely different planets. Divided, then felled. 

So when Rogers asks for information, there is something that coils in his stomach, and slithers up his throat. It’s the part of him that survived the stabbing, starving, drowning, and utter hopelessness. The words fly out of his mouth until he reaches it: the betrayal. 

“Guess what Cap? We lost. And you weren’t there.” 

He wasn’t there when Pepper left, or when Rhodey got hurt, or when Tony needed him most. Cap came and went whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted, but never when wanted. 

The creature is there again, hissing and spitting. “I got  _ nothing _ for you Cap.”

“Zero, zip, nada.” The wild thing is wrapped tightly around his throat, choking the final words out of his wrecked body. “No trust.” 

“ _ Liar.” _

Tony hands him his last means of defense, his heart. Steve takes it, and this time Tony doesn’t stick around to see what he’ll do with it. As a futurist, he already knows. He has the data. 

The creature’s hold is too tight, and he vision darkens. Did Steve break it already? Is he dying? The concerned voices tell him he is, even as they ask questions. 

Tony knows what to say. He’s had this script for a long time. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

The world blinks out. 

<> <> <>

When it blinks back in, he already knows who is there to greet him. They’ve been doing this for a long time. 

“It wasn’t enough to be saved by the space captain. You had to go full damsel.” Rhodey actually looks up from the book he had been holding, a testament to how worried he was. 

Tony knows what to say. “You know it isn’t a reunion if nobody faints. I just added that dramatic touch.” 

“You went a little heavy handed with it, but you would do nothing less.”

Rhodey’s stare is deadpan, and Tony’s a little wet. Something is wrapped tightly around his throat, making the words hoarse. “You know me so well, Rhodey.”

“The best.” Rhodey agrees, and it’s enough. Because he’s there, and Tony sees him. 

  
  
  
  


_ “Time just deepens, sweetens, and mends old friends.” _

The black tie is tightened around Tony’s throat, and he almost chokes. “Rhodey! Jesus, I’m trying to make it down the aisle here.”

“Tony, I’ve been tying yours and my ties for decades now. You are not going to asphyxiate.”

“Whatever happens to me, it will be Pepper’s wrath you’re facing. Remember that.”

“You remind at every convenience. It would be very hard to forget.”

Tony stumbles back, loosening the tie until it hangs limply from his neck. His eyes are panicked. “Rhodey I-”

“I was hoping we’d skip this part.”

“ - can’t do this. Honestly, Pepper deserves so much better. She knows it, she saw me at my birthday parties.” They both wince at the memories. 

“Tony.” Rhodey grips his best friend’s shoulders tightly. “How long have you known Pepper?”

“12 years.”

“Don’t you think she would have found someone else by now if she wanted to?”

“She wasn’t looking.”

“She didn’t need too. Look, Tones -” Rhodey shakes Tony, and the brunet’s teeth rattle. “Pepper loves you, and she knows you love her. You can’t honestly tell yourself this is a mistake when I know that yesterday you were looking at each other like you guys hung the stars.”

Rhodey’s voice is a little softer now, not as firm but just as truthful. “You’ve already been through all those fights, breaks, and loses with her. The rest of a lifetime isn’t going to break you two apart.” 

“She -”

“Is only going to learn to love you deeper. You guys are gonna be that old couple that is so sweet even the kids wouldn’t be able to stand it.” 

“Like you and I, honeybear.”

Rhodey laughs, even as his throat closes in. Maybe his tie is a little too tight. “I don’t know, she has to love you for at least another decade to be like us.”

Tony’s head rests on his shoulder, just as easy as it’s always been. Their bodies are almost knitted together, two perfectly mended halves into one whole. 

Rhodey squeezes Tony as he says, “Your entire life has been complicated. This is the simple part.”

“Just two words, right?”

“Choke ‘em out if you need to, but you are saying them. And then we are all going to go home happy, and you are going to Italy with your new wife for a nice glass of good wine.”

“Well, if you say so.”

  
  
  
  


_ “There are no ends to old friends.” _

When Rhodey stops talking, the mass is like perched ravens in their grave clothes, blinking back at him. For once, they have no pointless chatter, wild whistling, or pervasive curiosity. 

Rhodey feels a bit speechless himself. He clears his throat, mutters a soft ‘thank you’ into the mic, and marches stiffly off stage. 

The mass stays, onyx statues in the dim light as he flees. He does not feel like a hero in that moment; maybe he is just a best friend, a former best man, or a college buddy missing his other half. 

Whatever he is, he is determined to leave this event. 

“That was a tear jerker. “No ends to old friends” honestly tore everyone’s hearts to shreds, mine included.”

Hammer is there again, just four feet to freedom. Happy stands there with the door open to the SUV uncomfortably. 

“Strange, I wasn’t aware you had old friends.” Pepper’s voice was too matter of fact to be anything but withering. 

She steps out of the car, her eyes shards of ice that are fixed on Hammer. Pepper is dressed in a killer pantsuit - her version of shining battle armor - and is the hero Rhodey could never hope to be. 

“Pepper! Good to see you, looking lovely as always.” 

Hammer seemed to somehow mistake murderous for lovely. Rhodey is sure he is about to very quickly learn the difference when a small voice rises from the car. 

“Mommy, can we go home now?”

Morgan’s brown, Bambi eyes blink up at the surrounding adults. She wrinkles her nose at Hammer, asking Happy, “Is that the man Daddy called a tool? He said he had ‘shitty tech’.”

Happy yelps a little. “Morgan!”

Pepper is as sweet as ever with her daughter, who is often far more like Tony than she could appreciate. “And what did Daddy say about using my word?”

Morgan settles into her seat, more than a little grumpy. “Not to. He bribed me with juice pops.”

“Of course he did.” Pepper rolls her eyes. 

“We can go right now, little miss.” Rhodey smiles at Morgan, 

“Actually, I was wondering if I could steal the good Colonel for a moment.”

Hammer reaches out as if to sling an arm around Rhodey’s shoulder - like they were old friends. Rhodey steps away like the touch might burn him, or at least wrinkle a perfectly good suit. His glare is capable of dusting the snide business man. 

“Goodbye Hammer.”

He side steps Hammer and slides into the car, letting Happy close him in. Inside, Morgan is grasping a teetering cup of apple juice while Pepper wrangles her back into the car seat.

“Right then.” Pepper smiles a little as she tells Happy, “To the Lakehouse.”

It was time to go home.

_ “Amen.” _

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> oh boy ho boy, first fic ever! If you liked, please let me know. I have a tumblr, which i have zero themes for but hey maybe check it out. same handle.
> 
> have a lovely day!


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